Contrasting ERHC Energy (OTCMKTS:ERHE) & Comstock Resources (NYSE:CRK)

ERHC Energy (OTCMKTS:ERHE) and Comstock Resources (NYSE:CRK) are both energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, risk and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for ERHC Energy and Comstock Resources, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ERHC Energy	0	0	0	0	0.00
Comstock Resources	3	6	2	0	1.91

Comstock Resources has a consensus price target of $20.60, indicating a potential downside of 11.36%. Given Comstock Resources’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Comstock Resources is more favorable than ERHC Energy.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares ERHC Energy and Comstock Resources”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ERHC Energy	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Comstock Resources	$1.25 billion	5.43	-$229.65 million	$0.25	92.96

ERHC Energy has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Comstock Resources.

Risk and Volatility

ERHC Energy has a beta of -5.64, indicating that its stock price is 664% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Comstock Resources has a beta of 0.33, indicating that its stock price is 67% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares ERHC Energy and Comstock Resources’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ERHC Energy	N/A	N/A	N/A
Comstock Resources	3.14%	6.71%	2.45%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

36.1% of Comstock Resources shares are held by institutional investors. 4.9% of ERHC Energy shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of Comstock Resources shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Comstock Resources beats ERHC Energy on 9 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ERHC Energy

ERHC Energy Inc. engages in the exploration and exploitation of oil and gas resources in Africa. Its principal assets include the rights to working interests in exploration acreage in the Republic of Kenya; the Republic of Chad; the Joint Development Zone between the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe; the Federal Republic of Nigeria; and the economic zone of Sao Tome. The company was founded in 1986 and is based in Houston, Texas.

About Comstock Resources

Comstock Resources, Inc., an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of natural gas and oil properties in the United States. Its assets are located in the Haynesville and Bossier shales located in North Louisiana and East Texas. The company was incorporated in 1919 and is headquartered in Frisco, Texas. Comstock Resources, Inc. is a subsidiary of Arkoma Drilling, L.P.